Archive for category Competitions
Alzheimer’s Blogging Competition Entry
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions on March 14, 2011
A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease strikes fear into the heart of anyone. As a writer, it scares me to think that when I
eventually retire from the day job to finally spend more time at my keyboard, this debilitating condition might rob me of the ability to string words together coherently.
I wouldn’t be the first writer to suffer in this way. It is well-known that Terry Pratchett suffers from Alzheimer’s and he has spoken publicly about the disease many times, in some ways becoming the contemporary face of Alzheimer’s. He now dictates his work, either using voice recognition software or to his PA, Rob Wilkins.
In 2009 the Guardian published an article claiming that Agatha Christie may also have been suffering from the disease towards the end of her life. Experts in Canada studied a selection of Christie’s novels written between the ages of 28 and 82 and counted the numbers of different words, indefinite nouns and phrases used in each. They discovered that Christie’s vocabulary size decreased noticeably (by between 15 to 30%) as she neared the end of her life and that her repetition of phrases and indefinite word usage (something, thing, anything) in her novels increased significantly. Agatha Christie, was never diagnosed with dementia but the authors of this study believe that the changes in her writing are consistent not with normal ageing, but with Alzheimer’s disease.
The results of the Christie study mirror those of a similar analysis of the early and late works of the novelist, Iris Murdoch. Her vocabulary had diminished in her final work and, on average, it contained fewer words and clauses per sentence. Murdoch was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s the year after her final novel was completed.
If diagnosed early there are drugs that can help the sufferers of this terrible disease but up until now the problem has been in making that early diagnosis. However, a brain scan is now being trialled by the NHS that spots the early signs of Alzheimer’s and can diagnose the disease in less than 24 hours. This would replace the often inconclusive memory tests that are currently used by doctors to spot the disease.
For those currently living with Alzheimer’s disease and those that care for them, there are aids available to make life a little bit easier, such as alarms to indicate when a sufferer has got out of bed or opened a door or window. These are available through The Disabled Shop.
One in ten people over the age of 65 will develop Alzheimer’s and more than half of those over the age of 85 will succumb to the condition. But only £12 per patient is spent annually on research into Alzheimer’s, compared with £289 per patient spent on cancer – this is an imbalance that can’t be right.
This blog post has been written in response to the Alzheimer’s Disease Blogging Competition, which is aiming to increase awareness of the disease and raise money to fight it. There’s a great list of blogging related prizes plus the chance of paid blogging assignments – if you’ve got a blog then click on the link for details of how to enter. More entrants mean a higher profile for Alzheimer’s Disease.
Alternatively, if you don’t blog, click here to make a donation.
Creative Writing Courses to be Won
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Events, Writing on March 10, 2011
Can creative writing be taught? It’s a topic that’s often debated but I don’t think anyone has come up with a definitive answer.
Obviously, we can learn the rules of grammar, spelling and punctuation. We can also be told how to present a manuscript (double spacing, wide margins etc) and make sure we include a self-addressed envelope. But can anyone tell us how to grab an idea and turn into in a story?
I think it is possible to teach someone to write a competent short story. Most people can grasp the basic rules, such as:
- Keep the number of characters to a minimum
- Keep the time frame short
- Use just one ‘scene’
- The main character must resolve some sort conflict (internal or external)
But to rise above the ‘competent’ and produce a tale that really sparkles (and will attract the attention of editors and competition judges) requires some sort of talent or creative leaning. It may be a hidden talent that we don’t know we possess until it is honed by the production of several stories, each a little better than the last – so practice is just as important as anything that can be taught.
So, is it worth going on a creative writing course? The answer is most definitely yes!
The benefits of courses often far outweighs the number of ‘writing rules’ that might be taught. Being with like-minded people, even if only for half a day, will fill you with enthusiasm, give you the opportunity to meet new friends and make you more determined to continue down the rocky writing road.
But unfortunately writing courses tend to be expensive – unless you can find a subsidised one taking place in a library or similar place. However, all is not lost because it is possible to win your way on to a course with the following competitions:
- The Arvon Postcard Competition is offering a first prize of a one week Arvon course. Send in a piece of flash fiction or poetry that describes your favourite writing place (seems like a big prize for few words!) Closing date 21 May 2011.
- The Swanwick Writers’ Summer School is running three competitions, two of which offer a free week at the 2011 Summer School as their first prize. The first is a short story on the theme ‘New Beginnings’ and the second is 1,000 words of a children’s story. Closing date is 30 April 2011.
- Leaf books is running a travel writing competition with a first prize of a beginners’ travel writing course (in London). Send a 300 word piece of travel writing before the closing date 30 April 2011.
- Nature of Wales is offering a place on the nature writing course at Tŷ Newydd as the second prize in their competition (first prize is £500 cash). They require a thousand word article on a subject of topical environmental or wildlife interest in Wales. Closing date 31 March 2011.
Bits & Pieces
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Events, Markets, Successes on February 28, 2011
I’ve got a few bits and pieces that might be of interest:
- Lois Maddox has dropped me a line about two weekend creative writing courses that she is organising. They are both aimed at all levels of writing ability and take place at Swanwick in Derbyshire. The first is ‘From Memories to Memoirs’ . It is led by Alison Chisholm, who will deal with creating a scheme for a life file and selecting a theme or time period to write about. The second is ‘Write Crime’. It is led by retired policeman Nick Oldham and as well as dealing with plot and characters, it will look at setting the scene with up-to-date procedures. Further details are available at www.malagaworkshops.co.uk.
- My Weekly Pocket Novels have upped their required wordage from 30,000 to 50,000. Payment has also gone up from £200 to £300. As some of you may know, I’m having a go at writing one of these as a stepping stone to a ‘proper’ novel. I did have my ten 3,000 word chapters mapped out. So now it’s back to the drawing board to find a subplot or something else to extend (without padding!) the story. Further details here.
- www.writing.ie is a new website, billing itself as ‘the home of Irish writing, online’. The events and courses listed on the site will mainly be of interest to those living in Ireland but there is also loads of free writing advice to be found on writing.ie. under the Writers’ Toolbox tab.
- The Telegraph has launched a short story competition for young writers aged between 16 and 18. It will be judged by John le Carre and the closing date is April 14th 2011. Full details here.
- I have to mention two small personal successes that I found out about last week. Firstly I have short piece about the Festival of Britain in the Cornucopia section of the current (Spring) edition of This England magazine. Secondly I have won the Writers’ Forum subscription that is up for grabs each month to the person sending in the best bit of news for the magazine’s NewsFront page.
- Finally, look out for an extra post on Wednesday – I am taking part in my first ever blogfest.
Women Only Writing Competitions
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Writing on February 24, 2011
Where are all the male writers hiding?
The writers’ events I’ve been to recently seem to be dominated by the fairer sex. At the Martin Davies Novel Writing Day there were around a dozen participants but only one of them was male. At the writers group I attend, women outnumber men by nearly 3 to 1 and in the Birmingham Chapter of the Romantic Novelists Association we have just one man (but maybe that is to be expected!).
And judging by the email addresses of the subscribers to this blog, 95 % of them are women and most of the comments left are from ladies too.
I pointed out this imbalance in the sexes to my husband and he suggested that maybe all the male writers are actually writing and producing best-sellers, rather than sitting around talking about writing or surfing the blogosphere.
He could have a point. We women get caught up in the social aspects of writing whereas our male counterparts actually knuckle down and get on with it.
So as we seem to be all girls together, here are some suggestions for women only competitions to get you inspired and writing:
- The Glass Woman is a fiction competition for stories of between 50 and 5,000 words. The theme is open but the subject must be of significance to women. No entry fee and the closing date is March 21st. First prize is $500 plus there are runners-up prizes. Previous winning entries plus full details are here.
- The Baptist Times are running a women’s writing competition for non-fiction. There are 3 categories each with a prize of £100; Spirituality, Cultural Comment and Faith & Life. The judges are looking for writing that’s stylish, insightful and powerful. No entry fee, word limit is 1,000 and closing date is 4th April. Full details here.
- The Grey Hen Poetry competition is open only to women over 60. Closing date is 30th April 2011, £3 entry fee and £100 first prize. Full details here.
If you’re already a published novelist then there’s always the Orange Prize for Fiction.
Oh, and if you’re a man reading this – please leave a comment and make yourself known (or use the box on the right to sign-up to receive my blog posts by email – that way you’ll never miss one!)
And the Winner is….
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions on February 7, 2011
The winner in the prize draw for the set of 3 Stieg Larsson books is:
Helen lives in Dorset and writes part-time, mainly articles and reviews. Social history is a particular favourite topic. However, she has had success with short stories, having won two competitions. She is currently working on several projects, all at different stages, from early research to about to submit. Further information can be found on Helen’s website www.helenbaggott.co.uk.
Congratulations to Helen and thanks to every one who took part by signing up for an email subscription to this blog.
Here are a couple more ‘win a book’ competitions to have a go at if you’re feeling lucky:
Markets for 500 Word Stories
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions on January 31, 2011
Not got much time for writing? Fancy trying something short and sharp? Have a look at these competitions for 500
word stories. But beware, just because they’re short it doesn’t mean they’re easy. It’s very difficult to get a beginning, middle and end, plus a bit of character development into 500 words.
- The Flash 500 Competition is a quarterly competition with an open theme, the next closing date is the 31st March and there is the option of receiving a critique on your story. Entry fee is £5 and there is a £250 first prize plus publication in Words with Jam
- Emerald Writing Workshops also run a quarterly competition with the next closing date being 28th February. The theme varies and the for the current competition the story must be set in an airport. Previous winning entries plus the judge’s comments are available on the website. Entry fee is 5 second class stamps for a total prize fund of £75.
- Spilling Ink Review have a flash fiction competition for stories up to 500 words in length. The closing date is 1st April 2011 and it is an open theme. Prizes are £250, £125 and £50 plus a free copy of their annual print anthology. Entry fee is £5
But if they all sound like too much hard work then take the easy option and enter my free prize draw instead.
Good Luck!
National Trust Poetry Competition
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Poetry on January 28, 2011
Image via Wikipedia
The National Trust is calling for poems inspired by a special outdoor place for their Landlines Competition.
The prize is something money can’t buy – a special day with National Trust staff at either an outdoors location or behind the scenes at one of the NT properties in the winners’ chosen region. In addition the winners in each category will have their poem published in the autumn 2011 edition of National Trust Magazine. The winners and five runners-up will also receive a copy of Ode to the Countryside – the NT collection of poetry celebrating the British landscape.
The judge is the poet and broadcaster Ian McMillan. He says, “The open air, the layers of landscape, the endlessly changing weather and the way that buildings and places can evoke memory are all grist to the poet’s mill.”
So it should be easy to find plenty of inspiration to get you going!
There are two categories – ‘Under 16′ and ’16 and Over’. Only one poem per entrant is allowed and each poem should be no longer than 20 lines. There is no entry fee.
The closing date is 31 March 2011 and entry is by email or post. For full details of where to send your poems click here.
And don’t forget, there’s only a week to go before I draw the winner of the Stieg Larsson books. Details are here.
Brit Writers’ Awards 2011
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions on January 25, 2011
The Brit Writers’ Awards is a major competition with a massive £10,000 prize for the eventual winner and it’s principally aimed at unpublished writers. It promises a glittering awards ceremony for the finalists which will be attended by major publishing houses, celebrities and international media representatives.
The entries will be judged in 8 different categories:
- Poetry
- Short stories
- Novels
- Non-fiction
- Stories for children
- Songwriting
- Stage/screenplay
- Published writer of the year
Tempted by the size of the prize fund and the description of the awards ceremony I entered this competition last year (its inaugural year). I was disappointed with it on several counts:
- From the beginning I was sent emails trying to sell me tickets to the awards ceremony
- The closing date for entries was extended (which doesn’t seem fair to those of us who had worked and submitted to the original date)
- The announcement of the results was postponed more than once
- Postings on the Writers’ News Talkback Forum indicated that the awards ceremony was disappointing
When I saw the announcement of the 2011 awards I decided that my grumbles might just be down to teething problems in the competition’s first year and, since Writers’ News subscribers qualify for free entry, it might be worth giving it another go (especially since there is no set theme and therefore I could choose one of my existing stories to send in).
Then I read that Writers’ News/Writing Magazine have withdrawn their association with the Brit Writers’ Awards because they were ‘increasingly concerned at Brit Writers’ development into a financial operation’. apparently they have introduced something called ‘Your Book Your Way’, a paid scheme that helps authors self-publish but using partners approved of by Brit Writers. They are also behind the ‘Publishing Programme’ that offers 15 writers a year’s editorial development and guaranteed publication – at a cost of £1,795 per participant.
So now I’m not so sure about entering. Has anyone else any experience of this competition? Do you plan on entering this year?
The Brit Writers’ Awards are a big step up from my claim to fame this week – a letter in the Jan/Feb issue of Tesco Magazine and it wasn’t even the star letter so I didn’t get my hands on the prize of a weekend break in London. But if at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again – so I’ve just whizzed off another one to them. For some hints on writing letters for publication click here and for my free prize draw click here.
Improve Your Reader’s Mood
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Competitions, Markets, Writing on January 17, 2011
As you write do you consider how your words will affect your reader’s mood? Will he be uplifted to a better place or left wondering whether or not to slit his throat? 
The Reading Agency and BBC Headroom have worked with reading groups to identify a selection of ‘Mood-busting Books’ that should leave you with a smile. The list includes The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell and The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith.
I think it’s hard to write something that makes a reader a happy. It’s so much easier to make a story out of tragedy or misfortune – after all if everything is going swimmingly for your characters, where’s the conflict that we are told is an essential element of every piece of fiction? A death, divorce or double-dealing fraudster immediately threw up dozens of plot lines but it’s harder to make a compelling piece of fiction out of happy family life. Making your reader feel good is much more of a challenge than making them feel sad.
Judges of short story competitions often complain that there are too few entries that make them smile. Imagine wading through a couple of hundred stories dwelling on the harsher side of life – the one story that can make you laugh and raise your mood must make it to the short list.
So why not read one of the mood-busting books above and then practise some ‘feel-good’ writing – January is dismal enough without making it worse with massive amounts of melodrama.
To get the creative juices flowing, here are a few places to target with your smiley stories and pick-me-up poems:
- The Marple Short Story and Poetry competition is offering a special prize for the best humourous poem submitted
- East of the Web publishes short stories online and has a humour section – unfortunately there is no payment other than a page to publicise yourself, including links to your own blog/website.
- Chicken Soup for the Soul publishes inspirational books, comprising a selection of short pieces on a particular theme designed to encourage, comfort or amuse. They are currently looking for submissions around themes such as weddings, Canada and marriage. The full list is here.
And if you just want something to cheer yourself up during these grey weeks – enter my free prize draw.
Two American Short Story Markets
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Markets, Writing on January 13, 2011
Image via Wikipedia
The beauty of the internet is that it brings the world into our living-rooms. We can target markets across the globe without worrying about the cost of international postage and how to include a stamped addressed envelope for a reply.
Here are two American websites to which I’ve submitted work:
- Long and Short Reviews specialises in romantic fiction. Their main function is to review full-length novels, however every Thursday they publish a short story. Stories must be between 1000 and 1500 words and contain a strong romantic element and a ‘happy ever after’ or at least ‘hopefully happy ever after’ ending. Payment is minimal ($5 plus a free 1 month advert if you have a book that you want to promote) but they include a short biography with each story in which you can include your website/blog. Full submission details are here. I submitted a story originally written for the UK women’s magazine market. It had done the rounds here without success but I didn’t want to consign it indefinitely to my desk drawer. The story is available to read here on the Long and Short Reviews site. By the way Long and Short Reviews has a sister site, Whipped Cream, that deals with erotic fiction – so don’t be shocked if you see that mentioned in the submission guidelines on the site!
- The second market is a regular competition organised on the Readingwriters site. Each competition has a different theme and varying word count so you need to check the current requirements. I like these competitions because they are free to enter but offer a $100 prize and the judging procedure allows you to see how near (or otherwise) you were to winning. The stories that got through the first round of judging are listed on the website, then a bit later those that got through the second round of judging and finally the winner’s name plus ‘honourable mentions’ are published. The winning story is posted on the site along with a critique by the judge.
So why not send your work across the pond and see if you can make it big in the US!
Failing that, sign up for email updates to this blog and enter the prize draw for a set of Stieg Larsson books. For details, click here.
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